The business with a big ambition to help good causes

Staff at Norton firm near Worcester step up to help cancer patients and community projects

STAFF at a Worcestershire-based business are racing towards their target of raising £100,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and other charities over the past four years.

Workers at SMH Fleet Solutions, a vehicle fleet management provider at Norton, near Worcester, have been involved in an array of charity fundraising events since the firm started in 2003 but their efforts have moved up a gear since 2014 when the company started to expand.

Supporting charities and the local community are embedded in the firm’s culture.

SMH now has a 150-strong workforce in Worcester and a total 370 employed staff nationwide, with an additional 130 sub-contractors and all are encouraged to join in the fundraising fun – including the managing director Martin McAuley, who takes part in all the major events.

Apart from Norton, the company has sites in Throckmorton, near Pershore; Gloucester; Bedford and Bolton and has Macmillan Cancer Support as its main charity but each site supports a local charity of its choice.

In 2014 SMH donated an impressive £37,115 to charity; the figure in 2015 was £21,000 and last year it sent £22,000 to good causes in the UK. It is now on target to reach £20,000 this year to achieve the overall goal of £100,000 in the past four years.

Apart from supporting Macmillan, last year the staff in Worcester raised £5,300 for Midlands Air Ambulance which provides life-saving helicopter emergency services for the region.

Employees in Bolton raised £2,113 for Daytrippers, a charity providing days out for disadvantaged children and their families; the team at Gloucester raised £2,077 for Lincfund, providing leukaemia and intensive chemotherapy services to patients in Gloucester; while the staff based in Bedford raised £1,600 for Cransley Hospice, providing care and expert help for patients with life-limiting illnesses.

This year the staff have already taken part in a number of fund-raising events and the company has made £10,000 worth of donations to support other local causes including a £5,000 donation to support the refurbishment of a new community coffee shop in Norton Parish Hall and a £3,000 donation to Norton Juxta Kempsey C of E First School to support the development of a memorial garden.

SMH managing director Martin McAuley said: “Consideration for our people and care for the community is built into our organisational culture. A commitment to charity and local community support is also a great way to inspire our staff. These initiatives involve everyone at all levels and they’re also great for team building.”

“In Worcestershire there are around 30 Macmillan posts for nurses specialising in care - for example in lung and skin cancer, chemotherapy, gynaecology and palliative care. The money raised by SMH could pay for a Macmillan nurse for 18 months.

“We also have four Macmillan Information and Support Service Centres in three Worcestershire hospitals. These are run by a team of experts and trained volunteers who aim to give people living with cancer, their family and carers ‘time away’ and provide a listening ear and information on everything, including help for the financial problems cancer may create.

“Each centre costs Macmillan over £52,000 a year to run. We rely on donations and every penny really can make a difference. Thanks to the very generous support of SMH Fleet Solutions, we are now able to reach so many more people living with cancer. SMH’s support is invaluable and their fundraising has been remarkable.”

• There are two and a half million people living with cancer in the UK today and, as more people live longer with their cancer, this number is set to grow to four million by 2030. Macmillan Cancer Support wants to make sure it can provide support to everyone who needs it, to help people affected by cancer feel more in control of their lives.

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